Day One -- Cairo

We made it!

Some travel logistics: weather delays & switched flights for Joe getting out of Eureka and meeting Kim at LAX, two flights together (through Frankfurt), arriving in Cairo at 3:30am, being met at the airport (before immigration!) by representatives from our hotel. After 24 hours of travel and very little sleep, the waiting area of the Cairo airport was like a weird dream. Tons of people in a variety of colorful, exotic dress, including many women in Burkas. It was unbelieveable how crowded it was at that hour. We were walked out to a dark lot with a bunch of men standing around and put into a car and driven throught the dark streets. At the hotel, our car was stopped and the guards walked around the car with a bomb sniffing dog, then we went through a security setup entering the hotel like at the airport! A bit disconcerting at first, but reassuring. The hotel, an ex-palace, now fancy Marriott in town is beautiful with incredible grounds right on the Nile. Kim felt a bit weird staying in such a plush place in Cairo, but it has proven to be a comfortable and familiar spot after our explorations into a loud and chaotic Cairo.

Despite little sleep, we were eager to see our daughter, Brie, and get started. Brie is doing great! She has adjusted well to life in Cairo and loves it here. We met her co-workers (a very friendly, joking group) and saw her workplace. She is a researcher at the World Fish Center. We walked around her area (Zlamack, or something like that) which is a densely populated island in the middle of the Nile. We saw her apartment which is huge. The big living room has 3 separate sitting areas, each with big couches and chairs. There is a dining room, big kitchen, marble bath and 2 big bedrooms. Brie's husband, Mark, arrived late last night after his eventful "internship" in Venezuela. We're looking forward to seeing him later this morning. They will be together here in Cairo until the Fall, when Mark starts school at Oxford. Brie will follow him there a few months later at the end of her one-year assignment in Cairo.

We went to lunch in a pizza place, then headed to the big market (souk). The drivers are crazy: there is a system involving lots of honking and some taxis have horns that sound like sirens or car alarms--pretty funny, but I wouldn't want to try driving here. The market had lots of stalls with silver, scarves, clothes, spices and pottery. People had a lot of different, often funny, lines they used to try to get you into their shops. We got tired of that crowd and push pretty quickly, so we wandered into some the the outlying alleys and explored, including the alley of the tent makers where generations of families have done applique, initially for tents, now bedspreads and pillow and cushion covers: very intricate. Lots of stray cats everywhere!


Cairo struck us as a city of contrasts: old & new, poor & rich, Muslim & Christian, Muslim "no alcohol" rules except they have locally made beer and wine and the bars aren't identified as "bars", etc. We saw many buildings in a constant state of "under construction" (lower property tax), sporting partially finished top floors that may never be finished. We saw a few buildings still not rebuilt after the magnitude 7.5 earthquake of 1992. Some amazing old villas along the Nile and lots of mosques and beautiful minarets. The call to prayer over the loudspeakers adds to the noise five times a day.

We found people to be very friendly and outgoing. Kids would give us big smiley greetings in English. Restaurant and hotel workers were especially helpful. The dress is so interesting, lots of women in headscarves, the younger often wearing western clothes with headscarves in wild colors, prints, sequins etc :), the arabs in full white robes and headress, the burkas etc.

Prices are very reasonable.


We're having a hard time staying fully hydrated, even though it isn't particularly hot (by local standards).


Yesterday was a light day, as we didn't want to do any major sightseeing before Mark joined us, so today we go to the big museum. Tomorrow is all about the pyramids at Giza, the sphinx, etc.


Joe has learned his arabic numerals, but we're both struggling to learn some phrases. We can usually say hello and thank you, but that's about it. We're impressed, as usual, with Brie's uncanny knack for picking up languages very quickly. She can bargin with shopkeepers, communicate with taxi drivers and make small talk. She seems so comfortable and really knows her way around. She wears a shawl to respect the modest dress conventions

As is the case in many developing countries (apparently), there are three sectors in the economy: goverment sector, large industry/business, and the informal sector. We're still trying to figure out this strange informal sector. For example, we hailed a black & white taxi to go from the tent-makers' street back to our hotel. These taxis don't have meters. At the end of the ride, you simply pay them what you think is fair! We paid 20 Egyptian pounds (a bit less than $4) for a 15-minute ride, and the driver was pleased. Strange, huh! Similarly, many people in this sector do little favors and tasks for baksheesh--small amounts of money contributed by the recipients. Examples of these tasks would include washing your car, providing directions, etc. For more info on baksheesh, check out www.touregypt.net/featurestories/baksheesh.htm or just google it.

We have photos, but don't yet have the capability to upload them. We'll work on getting an adapter. More later ...